Rescue Assist QR codes could save your life in a car crash

The new Rescue Assist app from Mercedes-Benz is revolutionising road safety. It holds a database of vital ‘rescue cards’ for the emergency services to use at the scene of an accident.

These cards provide important safety information on Mercedes-Benz cars, allowing rescue teams to quickly and safely free trapped passengers from the vehicle. They tell emergency services personnel where the safest places are to cut into the car and extricate the occupants.

The Rescue Assist technology gives quick access to digital rescue cards via a smartphone or tablet. The emergency workers simply scan the special QR codes fitted to the car to find the relevant rescue card.

What are rescue cards?

Rescue cards show an overview of important car components, including airbags, batteries and fuel lines. They also show all the high-voltage components in electric and hybrid vehicles.

The cards provide three-dimensional views and augmented reality with invaluable information about the vehicles. The rescue team are then able to quickly work out the best and safest place to use the cutters.

The 3D views can also be rotated or scaled up or down within the app, aligning the view to the vehicle at hand.

And Rescue Assist’s augmented reality views show all the components of the vehicle rendered in precise, photorealistic detail. These images, to a large extent, reflect what can be seen in the actual damaged vehicle. They should be a great advantage for the rescue services at the scene of the accident.

Why use Rescue Assist?

Previously, emergency services attending the scene of a car accident have had to rely on large catalogues of vehicle information, or data terminals on board the fire engine. Both of these systems risk becoming outdated and taking up valuable time to find the material needed.

The new Mercedes-Benz Rescue Assist app offers the vital information in seconds, helping to ensure that any trapped occupants are swiftly freed from the vehicle.

Another advantage of the Rescue Assist app is that it doesn’t need internet access. The app also functions offline, ensuring no time is lost during a rescue.

How can I get Rescue Assist in my Mercedes?

Every new Mercedes-Benz car and van will be fitted as standard with two Rescue Assist QR codes, placed in clearly visible positions on the B-pillars and inside the fuel filler cap. As soon as the QR code is scanned with the camera of the smartphone or tablet, the relevant rescue card will appear in the app.

The Rescue Assist app includes details of all Mercedes-Benz passenger cars built since 1990, along with all Mercedes-Benz vans since 1996. It will be constantly updated with the most important information.

The app is available in 24 languages for both iOS and Android devices. It can be downloaded free of charge.

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